The Pirates went 15-13 in May to bring their overall record to 25-25. They had a three and a four game winning streak and never lost more than two in a row.

The offense improved more than half a run, from 2.64 runs per game to 3.18 rpg. Unfortunately the pitching regressed almost a whole run, going from an even 3.00 rpg to 3.93 rpg. The big star of the month was James McDonald. The tall righty was 3-1 with a 1.54 ERA, 10.0 K/9 and held opponents to a .509 OPS.

Remember that tough April schedule the Pirates had and how things were going to be easier in May? Well, easier is relative. Pirates opponents played .528 ball (149-133) in May compared to .570 in April.

Summary: The Pirates were pretty lucky in May. They won way more than their share of one run games and gave up a good chunk of their total runs allowed in a few blowouts. The team as a whole is playing much better ball to end May than they did to start the month and that good play has carried over into June.